


Under the stars

by GreekWritesFanfiction (Greece_The_Squishy_Lencha)



Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Feelings Realization, Instead of enemies to lovers is Resentment to Love, M/M, Pre-Relationship, Very few dialogue
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-14
Updated: 2021-02-14
Packaged: 2021-03-16 01:28:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29323986
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Greece_The_Squishy_Lencha/pseuds/GreekWritesFanfiction
Summary: He never had gotten attached to someone that fast, the only reason the bond he had with his friends was so strong and lasting was because they had been together in their moments of tremendous hardship.However, with Jellal, he was starting to wish he had been there too.
Relationships: Cobra | Erik/Jellal Fernandes
Comments: 4
Kudos: 6





	Under the stars

**Author's Note:**

  * For [watcher_ofthe_sky](https://archiveofourown.org/users/watcher_ofthe_sky/gifts).



Resentment is a complicated and sometimes amusing thing.

He had known about Jellal’s involvement in the Tower of Heaven for years, and he had never cared enough to give it a lot of deep thinking. At least not until he came up and tried to convince them to join Crime Sorcière. 

One by one, his friends had decided to follow him. Erik had gone along because besides them, there was nothing else left for him in the world, and maybe he had actually started to believe that he was worthy of redeeming himself for his crimes, but he had not expected to resent Jellal for his. 

Despite having spent so much of his life trying to suppress any thoughts of his past, there was something buried deep in his jaded soul that could not stand to look at him as he tried to guide them through a path of light.

How dared he, the man that had a part in their suffering, that had encouraged Brain’s wicked plans, try to make up for all of it by guiding them through the light when he had not even made up for his own darkness? Did he really believe that this would wash away the memories of the hell they suffered? Of the lives that they never had?

He had been soured by those thoughts for many weeks. 

That is until he heard Jellal’s own inner monologue, repeating itself over and over. It happened one night, when there was too much silence and Erik could not stop himself from listening to the never ending musings. Like whispers carried over in the harsh wind.

It was overwhelming, all the guilt and regret contained within him, all the blame dragging him down with every step. He realized then that Jellal was genuinely trying to help them, even when his reasoning had, in his own words, a degree of selfishness. It was his attempt at cleansing a part of his spirit.

His resentment managed to take a back seat. Though it would not fully disappear and it reared its head from time to time, each day he was more willing to let Jellal earn his trust. It required some time, and he first had to learn his story, which Jellal was quite inclined to share in nightly solitude. 

He told him about the poor village he used to live in and the boy he used to be, desperately trying to survive, even before he was captured. He told him how he had gradually lost all hope in between the cold bars of his cell and that the picture of Erza, his closest friend, had been the last straw. Suddenly, the voice of that dark god that their captors had adored so much had filled his head with twisted beliefs and he had been to weak not to accept them. 

Erik understood then why he had been so susceptible to Ultear’s manipulation, just as he had been to Brain’s. He realized that, in essence, there wasn’t that big of a difference between the two of them; they both had had to do what was needed to keep going, they both had fallen for a placebo of freedom and the cost had been far too great. The parallels were more similar than he would have expected.

* * *

Slowly, he began to enjoy Jellal’s company. When none of them wanted to remember the past, they would talk about less serious matters. 

He enjoyed reading. Whenever they went past a city, he would try to acquire as many books as possible to last him till the next one, yet he always finished them within a couple of weeks. Erik had taken to searching books for him as well, he found out that he particularly enjoyed detective stories, which felt on brand.

The nights when it was their turn to stand guard had at first consisted of them sharing a comfortable silence, until Jellal decided to tell him about the stars.

Erik had never cared enough about constellations or their tales, but Jellal had a certain gift for storytelling. He could listen to him repeat the same legend of Orion fighting Scorpio a hundred times, even when he had memorized every single word of it, because there was something entrancing about the inflections and rhythms in Jellal’s deep voice, and his silhouette highlighted by the pale moon.

That is something Erik found himself noticing too often; the features of him under a certain light, under a certain feeling. And sometimes his body seemed to acquire a mind of its own and try to drive him closer, hypnotized by the image of him. 

He would have to stop himself from brushing Jellal’s shaggy hair from his eyes as he became concentrated on working out a plan, with that focused stare of his that could not see the world beyond.

He would have to stop himself from holding onto his arm without intention of letting go, and half-heartedly scolding him for his stubbornness when Jellal would insist that they continued their path even though they had only rested for a few minutes and he, most of all, should take a break.

He would hesitate, debate if he should abstain from coming up to Jellal and try to offer comfort when he could listen how he mentally beat himself up for his mistakes, hidden deep inside the forest, where he isolated knowing no one would dare disturb him.

At that point, there was no resentment left in him, but what terrified Erik was how much he suddenly cared for the brooding man. He never had gotten attached to someone that fast, the only reason the bond he had with his friends was so strong and lasting was because they had been together in their moments of tremendous hardship.

However, with Jellal, he was starting to wish he had been there too. His mind even dared to wander sometimes and envision what the past would have been like for them. Maybe it would have turned out right.

A young Erik, who had given up on freedom, having the flame of faith reignited by the words of a young Jellal that remained hopeful, no matter what he endured. Leading a group of kids to find liberation, and if a rebellion were to come, they would not back down until everyone had escaped. And then a day would have come when it would be the two of them without any shackles weighing them down.

Or maybe they would have been unlucky. Jellal would have still fallen prey to the dark side and Erik would have fallen easily for his lies. Perhaps he could have been able to save him, or he might have even gone along with his cause, and it would all have resulted almost exactly the same.

But if dwelling in the past was useless, then dwelling in the possible what-ifs was even more pointless.

* * *

They had planned to attack a dark guild.

They knew well the profile of the stronger members, they had studied the building’s layout and spent a whole night studying the strategy. Racer and Midnight would sneak through the back entrance to neutralize as many enemies as possible, then Jellal and him would charge in through the main entrance and they would deal with the hardest enemies while the remaining three covered them.

It was nothing new, it was not even their first time dealing with a guild of similar caliber. The only difference from all the other times had been that the dark guild master had an ace up his sleeve. 

He had some kind of hidden magic that they hadn’t anticipated. So, as the two of them managed to gain the upper hand and corner him, he cast a burst of black energy spheres directly at them. In less than a second, Erik sprung into action, tackling Jellal to the ground. He yelped when he felt some spheres hit his body, scorching his clothes and his skin.

Whatever happened after was a little hard to tell. He remembers a burning hot pain in his side and part of his arm, accompanied by a wetness that he knew with certainty was blood. Jellal was dragging him to the side, indigo silky hair framing his scared expression. He was trying to check the severity of the wounds with trembling hands and scolding him for recklessly throwing himself into danger when he had been perfectly capable of shielding himself.

But Erik hadn’t been thinking about Jellal’s abilities when he decided to move, he hadn’t been thinking of anything actually. It had been an instinct deep in him, a part of him that pained at the thought of seeing him hurt, which had forced him to move.

He said something along the lines of “don’t you even think about dying” before being sent back into the fight by Meredy, who needed space to treat his wounds. After that, his consciousness came and went. Whenever he was slightly capable of opening his eyes, he always found a flash of blue nearby.

Some hours later, he fully awoke in their campsite. It was already night and the only person in sight was Jellal, who sat with his knees pulled up to his chest and his head resting on his hand. He must have fallen asleep watching over him. 

The thought caused an unexpected warm to spread over his chest that only magnified when he stared at the shimmering of his hair under the moonlight, like a cerulean halo. He had never seen him sleep, but at that moment, he looked so calm and dazzling. As if he hadn’t just spent all day worrying about Erik’s health.

It was at that moment that he made sense of everything; every single emotion he had been having for the past year or so. He had fallen absolutely in love with Jellal.

He chuckled, but it turned into groaning, as the wound in his side started to bother him. Jellal woke up at the sounds and immediately went to him. Once he saw Erik was fine he started half-heartedly nagging him again.

“You nearly scared me to death!” The honest care and worry in his dark green eyes made him feel a bit guilty, but he wouldn’t show it.

“Shoot, that’s just what I was trying to avoid,” Erik smiled sideways, showing his sharp teeth. Jellal only sighed, though a small, relieved smile made its way onto his lips. Then, in the much too quiet night, he could not stop himself from listening to Jellal’s thoughts. 

_I can’t believe I love him_

It’s a mere whisper and it’s all it takes for Erik’s heart to beat uncontrollably inside his chest. He attempts to sit up, despite the pain, but Jellal places his hands on his shoulders to keep him down. 

“What do you think you’re doing?” On top of him, surrounded by stars, it almost feels as if he belonged up there.

“So, you love me?” He might not have been as forward if he were in any other circumstances, but finding out that the feelings he had just figured out were actually returned was an intoxicating feeling that vanished all his inhibitions.

Jellal’s expression was blank, yet from his ears down to his neck a flush had started taking over. He reprimanded him for reading his mind and betraying his trust, but his stammering gave away his true intentions of derailing the conversation.

Erik wasn’t sure what to say to stop him or to assure him that he reciprocated those feelings in full, so he used his good arm to grab him by the nape and pull him down, crashing his lips onto Jellal’s chapped ones.

Jellal sighed into the passionate kiss, shifting, so he wouldn’t put too much pressure on Erik’s recovering body. He basically melted when Erik’s fingers took purchase of his soft hair. The kiss lasted less than a minute, but to him, it could have been a hundred years of having him peacefully in his arms.

Finally, Jellal laid down on the ground by his side, not wanting to leave him alone until Erik was completely healed, and rested his head on his shoulder. The silence was heavy, both of them wanting to say so much, yet also scared of doing so this soon. As they both looked up at the starry sky, Erik asked him to tell him the legends reflected in the firmament.

It was with his profound, captivating voice resonating in his ears that he fell asleep.


End file.
